Mr. Trump is a co-owner of the Republican Party, so it became his duty to decide whether Mr. Powell got to keep his Republican status that had been called into question by Mr. Cheney and some other disgruntled party members.

"I would like to thank God and Donald Trump for trusting in me and giving me the strength to stand by my beliefs," Mr. Powell said. "I am convinced more than ever of the importance of standing up for your beliefs and convictions."

Mr. Cheney said he accepted Mr. Trump’s decision as final. Then the former vice president and the former secretary of state and the former successful businessman hugged and kissed.

It made for a happy ending to what Mr. Powell and Mr. Trump had described as a traumatic period of "abuse" of Mr. Powell inflicted by his own Republican Party because he had spoken honestly and forthrightly.

Mr. Powell incurred the wrath of many in his party last fall when he endorsed Barack Obama for president. His appearance at the press conference with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cheney comes a little over two weeks after Mr. Cheney, during a televised interview, said he believed that Mr. Powell "had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican."

At this week’s news conference in a lower level corner of the Trump Tower, bordered by glassy escalators and marble walls, both Mr. Trump and Mr. Powell accused Mr. Cheney — who is in the process of writing a memoir — of self-promotion. But that clearly is not a crime in Mr. Trump’s mind. He said he would "love" to have Mr. Cheney back as a vice president again, and more or less dismissed the whole controversy as Mr. Cheney just "doing his thing."

"We’re all doing our thing," Mr. Trump said.

Scores of people lined the upper tiers at Trump Tower, staring down at the pageantry-filled scene of reconciliation between Mr. Cheney and Mr. Powell.

Mr. Trump said the turnout was evidence that the Republican Party had become "relevant again."

Tom Ridge, a former secretary of homeland security for Mr. Bush, said on CNN that he disagreed with Mr. Cheney and agreed with Mr. Trump’s decision.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and a leading conservative in the party, said, "It is a great day for Colin Powell, a great day for Donald Trump, and, really, not that bad of a day for Dick Cheney."

But Karl Rove, who was Mr. Bush’s senior political adviser, saluted Mr. Cheney for being "almost as strong, tough, smart and beautiful" as Mr. Powell and said it was unfair of Mr. Trump to step into the fray.

Meanwhile, if Mr. Cheney wants to speak publicly about Mr. Powell in the future, he will have to go through Mr. Trump first and discuss with him the platform where he will speak and how he will present his opinion.

"We’re not changing our rules for Dick," said Mr. Trump. "We’re bringing him back into compliance with Colin; every appearance is approved by us, every statement is a reflection of us."

He said that if he is asked about his views of Mr. Powell, he should answer honestly, but that Trump would help him "fine tune" his response so that it "is accommodating to both parties."

Mr. Cheney said he was "not going to be speaking out" against Mr. Powell but would "stay true to who I am." He said the publicity about the issue over the last few weeks had not given him any reason to re-think his position.

Philip Maddocks can be reached at pmaddock@cnc.com.

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